The Top-100 Crime Novels of All Time

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

Arthur W. Upfield (1998) Murder Down Under.

This is one of Upfield's best murder mysteries. His protégée, Napoleon (Bony) Bonaparte investigates a murder while on vacation in the wheat town of Burracoppin of Western Australia. In the fascinating scenery of the Australian Outback quirky characters will drag you into a complex puzzle.

Arthur W. Upfield (1998) The Bachelors of Broken Hill.

Set in a remote mining town, Upfield's murder mystery brings to life a long-ago forgotten world.

Barbara Vine (1989) The House of Stairs. (First published 1988)

Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine.

Cornell Woolrich (1995) Waltz into Darkness. (First published in 1947)

Middle-aged Louis Durand, whose fiance died 15 years ago, decides to take one more chance on love and marry a woman he knows only through correspondence. When she arrives, she's younger and more beautiful that he had expected - and far more deadly. A classical novel noire (French movie by Trancois Truffault).

Kobo Abe (1991) The Woman in the Dunes. (First published in 1962)

In this strangely terrifying book Niki Jumpei, an amateur entomologist discovers a bizarre village in the dunes, where residents live in deep sand pits. They take him prisoner. While constantly shoveling sand that threatens to bury the community, Niki struggles to escape. With its bizarre plot Abe has created one of the finest Japanese post-war novels.

A. C. Baantjer (2007) DeKok and Murder on Blood Mountain.

With the experience of a thirty-eight-year career in law enforcement, Baantjer has created fictional characters of unique personality and depth. His Detective Inspector DeKok is a veteran policeman who has seen it all. In this novel, DeKok investigates "Bloedberg", a neighborhood in the Belgium city of Antwerp, where a man was fished from the river Scheldt.

A. C. Baantjer (2003) Murder in Amsterdam.

Fat Sonja, an Amsterdam prostitute, is the first victim in a series of murders in Europe's sex-business capital. Written by A.C. Baantjer, one of the most popular authors in the Netherlands, this police procedural features some rather unorthodox methods by veteran policeman DeKok. Baantier, himself an Inspector with Amsterdam's police for almost 40 years, knows what he is talking about.

Gary Braver (2010) Gray Matter.

Dr. Lucius Malenko medically enhances childrens' intelligence at his exclusive Nova Children's Center. Above average medical thriller!

John Buchan (1994) The Four Adventures of Richard Hannay: The Thirty-Nine Steps / Greenmantle / Mr. Standfast / The Three Hostages.

From the father of spy fiction, who was, as recently revealed, the head of the British domestic intelligence agency, MI-5. First published in 1915, the Thirty-Nine Steps is the story of an ordinary fellow who gets caught up in a dramatic and dangerous plot. The book was made into a popular thriller by Alfred Hitchcock.

John Dickson Carr (2002) The Hollow Man. (First published 1935)

Three brothers, jailed for bank robbery, fake their deaths and are buried alive. The one with the shovel in his coffin digs his way to freedom, then leaves his brothers in their graves. But they come come back at him. Also published under the title "The Three Coffins", this intricate murder set-up is probably the best novel of the master of classical locked room mysteries.

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